PUBG ban: When were PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite banned in India for the first time?

Over the last few years, battle royale titles like PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, and PUBG Mobile Lite have witnessed tremendous growth, especially on the mobile platform. These games have been extremely successful, racking up huge numbers in terms of revenue and player count.

2020 wasn't exactly the best for Indian PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite fans, as their journey's were nothing short of rollercoaster rides. The titles managed to remain unscathed in the first ban wave, when the Government of India suspended 59 applications, but that wasn't the case the second time.

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When were PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite first suspended in India?

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) blocked 118 applications by invoking Section 69A of the Information Technology Act on September 2nd, 2020.

PUBG Mobile India was announced in November (Image via Newswire)

The list of applications banned included two of the most famous battle royale titles in the country – PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite.

The official statement stated the following:

"In view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 118 mobile apps since in view of information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order."

It added:

"The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India."

However, a ray of hope appeared for Indian fans when PUBG Corporation in November announced a particular Indian version of the title with specific changes, including the green hit effect and more. However, no details were provided about the streamlined version - PUBG Mobile Lite.

It appeared that PUBG Mobile would make a successful comeback very soon in the country, but it has been quite a while since the initial press release by the South Korean company.

Since then, there have been numerous developments regarding the title, with PUBG India registering as a private limited company and a new operation team getting appointed.

Responses to numerous RTIs also brought in several revelations about the popular titles. But no release date has been revealed so far.